


Crawl [Inktober 2020]

by the_real_a_cosmo (california_112)



Category: The Ter Map
Genre: Exploring, Gen, Inktober, Inktober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27302332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/california_112/pseuds/the_real_a_cosmo
Summary: Listening, he realised that there was a different quality to his friend's voice, one that set him on edge. "What is it?" Without answering, Bernie crawled forwards a little further, seemed to turn into a writing knot in the small space for a second, then disappeared. Louis was quick to follow, but the sight that met his eyes took his breath away.-or-A little exploration never hurt anyone. Did it...?This is part of Inktober 2020, Sunday 31st October - Crawl.
Kudos: 1





	Crawl [Inktober 2020]

"Look at that!"

"Bernie, come on, let's go before it starts raining-"

"No, Louis, just look!"

Keen to pacify his friend then find somewhere to shelter, Louis turned back for a second to see what exactly Bernie was so excited about. Admittedly, the line of dark clouds advancing over the horizon were very dramatic, but they were moving quite quickly, and promised bad weather. Louis grabbed a handful of Bernie's jumper, dragging her along.

"Do you even have a raincoat?"

"No. I'm fine without one though."

Louis rolled his eyes with a sigh. "If you say so. Just don't expect any sympathy from me when- oh no." He stopped almost involuntarily, looking straight up and hoping not to feel another fleck of water on his face.

A second later the heavens opened, bucketing down with no build-up whatsoever. Bernie was looking up at the sky with a smile on her face, appreciating the complexities of the weather system as only an airman can, but Louis pulled his hood up before forcing Bernie to go to the edge of the path, against a the small cliff-face they had been walking around.

"You know, I bet if we ran back down the path right now, we could find a bit where it was dry."

"Let's not try that theory, honestly…" Louis crossed his arms, annoyed; already, he thought he could feel the water seeping through the seams in his yellow raincoat, bought more for the aesthetic than for practicality. "The only way for you to redeem yourself now is to find somewhere for us to shelter until the storm is over."

Bernie thought for a second, and Louis thought that he had her, before she said "Done and done.", walking off into the rain back the way they had been going. Unwilling to be duped, he watched as she continued down the path, then suddenly turned right and disappeared.

Temporarily shocked, he followed quickly, avoiding the majority of the puddles, but was surprised when an arm reached out and pulled him sideways. Realising that he was quite firmly out of the rain, he took his hood off and saw Bernie smiling widely.

"It's a cave!" She said, as proud as if she had made it herself."

"I can see that." He replied. "How deep is it? I'm still getting dripped on."

"I'm not sure," was the answer, "I only saw the mouth just before we turned back. Shall we explore, whilst we're trapped in here?"

Louis considered. True, they weren't really in a position to leave the cave, but getting lost inside a mountain wasn't his idea of a fun weekend. In the end, a gust of raindrops on the side of his face made his decision. "Let's go."

The 'habitable' part of the cave wasn't very big, portions of its exact dimensions shown in the thin beam of Louis' phone torch. As they went further back, the ceiling got lower and lower, eventually forcing them to do a kind of slow crawl, hands and knees scraping on the rough floor whilst backs tried to avoid the low ceiling. The passageway was also getting narrower, and Louis had to work to avoid getting a purple wellington boot to the face.

Abruptly, Bernie stopped in her tracks, and Louis pulled up as quickly as he could.

"What is it, a dead end?"

"I don't…think so…"

Listening, he realised that there was a different quality to his friend's voice, one that set him on edge. "What is it?" Without answering, Bernie crawled forwards a little further, seemed to turn into a writing knot in the small space for a second, then disappeared. Louis was quick to follow, but the sight that met his eyes took his breath away.

It was a large cavern, feebly lit by the impossibly inadequate beams of both their phone torches. Bernie had dropped onto a ledge a few feet below the hole, and Louis joined her, shivering involuntarily at both kinds of atmosphere.

"Bernie, it's cold here, let's go back."

"Are you kidding? Look at this!" She wandered off, and Louis shivered again.

"Y'know, never before have I been more certain somewhere is haunted."

"Ghosts in caves? Really?"

"And why- hey, come back!"

Louis hastily followed his friend as she set off further into the cathedral-like space, looking around in wonder. On a day such as this, he was not willing to be left alone.

**Author's Note:**

> whats this? on time?
> 
> The finale of the Ter Map works for this challenge, it was good fun to work with my OCs again! I do more fanworks than original now, but they live on...


End file.
